I love Podcasts! I am subscribed to so many and everything from True Crime to Education. These are my personal recommendations on the best podcasts to listen to during the Halloween Season.
Spooked: This is the 5th season of the Spooked podcast presented by Snap Judgement and WNYC Studios. Host Glynn Washington hosts as guests relate their scariest experiences. With beautiful music setting the moods the stories are frightening, poignant and very spooky. I have listened since the first season and I just love this podcast. Stand out Episode: Lost In Time…the mural story.
Exile: Kelly Nugent, one of the hosts of the podcast Teen Creeps, writes, produces and stars in this creepy, horror tale of a post apocalyptic world and a girl facing it on her own. I am really enjoying this world, and the full story is available now for your listening pleasure.
Parcast Presents: Halloween: Hitting on various topics this series is made specifically for the season. Dig in and get into the spirit of the season.
Ghosted by Roz Drezfalez: Roz is fascinated by all things supernatural and invites others on to tell their personal stories. There are ghost hunters, an exorcist and Elvira herself among the many guests. Roz is infinitely charming, and the show is super entertaining. And seriously check out the Elvira episode, and the episode with My Favorite Murder’s Karen Kilgariff.
Are you listening to any good podcasts this Halloween?
I am still madly in love with roller skating, which is not altogether shocking since I have loved it since I was a child. I skated both days this weekend and enjoyed every moment of it.
Yesterday I met my friends Amy and Christina at The Warehouse, which is a parking garage set up for skateboarding and roller skaters by a church. The floor is so ridiculously smooth and it was easy to skate on and to practice tricks and such. I met several more amazing skaters: Sparky, Alex and Faego.
Amazing sign on the wall at The Warehouse
Today I met Amy, Hannah and Jake at Como Elementary for a morning skate. Como has incredibly smooth asphalt as well, and I made a short video of me skating a circle in the court.
I have a color scheme.
I recently put in an order for a new pair of skates, because mine are well over 16 years old. Skates are hard to come by right now, and mine are probably not going to be ready until early next year. I am excited for them though. I ordered Moxi Panthers, and they are a leopard print dream!
Ack! So cute!
I am having so much fun falling back in love with skates and skating. I am going to work on rehabbing my vintage skate case over the winter and get it ready to house my new skates.
One of the members of my newly created skate group Skate Expectations (Jake) held a public skate party on Saturday in Grandview. My little sister, Traci, came to pick me up and we headed over to skate. We kind of inadvertently matched a little which was funny. Lots of pinks, purples and turquoise for us!
Traci and I in our skate finery at the party Saturday night.
We got to meet members of The Crunch Ramp Supremes who are absolutely bad ass skaters from the area. I am in absolute awe of them, and I am going to be working harder at learning tricks and feeling stronger on my wheels. I joined their group on Meet Up, so I am hoping I can join them occasionally when they go out to skate.
Members of the Crunch Ramps and the DJ Set up.
It was Traci’s first time out on her new skates and she took off like she had been skating forever. She fell once, and unfortunately it was on camera, but…still overall a great time.
Traci skating, random skaters
We skated on and off for about 2 hours before we decided we should call it a night. Jake says he is definitely going to do it again and he asked if I would help with planning which of course I agreed to do. I am super excited to be involved and for the outlet to skate. I had forgotten/ written off how much I love to skate, but getting back out there it is all coming back.
I rehomed a vanity that was my mother’s a couple of years ago after my aunt moved. It has been sitting in my bedroom acting as a catch-all since. I recently decided that I would like to set it up, alongside a nyx travelcase I bought off a local auction site (I got it for about $40 and it retails online for $500. A total steal!), and start getting ready there in the morning.
First step was to paint the vanity. I decided I wanted it to be pink, incredibly pink, so off we went to Lowes to buy paint. I ended up choosing a paint called Flower Power. I got the furniture/cabinet paint because it said there was no need to sand or prime when using it. It did take several coats of paint, but the wood was quite dark, so that is not super surprising. Here are some before shots of the vanity and the top of the stool.
Here is some part of the way shots. This was 1-1.5 coats in.
The final product with Nyx Case set up beside and ready for me to get reasy in the morning! I am so in love with this. I will be adding more decoration, but I am so happy with how this turned out.
So…I have a minor obsession with pins (enamel, lapel, “buttons”). This has been going on for years (20+) and I have a startlingly large collection of these pins including a jar full in my craft room that I am planning to use in some kind of project. Part of this obsession is the fact that you can find them many places and they are fairly inexpensive souvenirs. Thus began my “collection”.
I have two jackets that are my favorites to wear and they are pretty decked out, so I thought I would give you a “tour” of my favorite jackets and the pins that currently live on them. These will undoubtedly change, but this is their current iteration.
My leather jacket: Several years ago I told my husband that I wanted a motorcycle jacket. For Christmas he surprised me with this amazing lined buffalo leather jacket from Angry, Young and Poor. I was instantly in love. I decided that only black, white and metal tone pins would live on it. A couple of the pins on here are new, and larger than I anticipated so I am not sure they will stay on here, but they are here for now.
The Jacket
Nina West, Laser Kitten and Out of Print
Cat Coven, Witch Baby Soap, Misc bought from punk rock flea market
Angry, Young and Poor, Ohio Roller Derby, MFM Fan Cult
Angry, Young and Poor
Angry, Young and Poor
Puddles Pity Party
Angry, Young and Poor
Charming Disaster, Enamel Heart, Gift
Punk Rock Flea Market, MFM Store, Cat Coven, Creepy Co
My jean jacket: I bought this jacket a couple of year ago at a thrift store for maybe $9. It is lined and has a fleece collar and cuffs. I love it, but the fact that it only has the front breast pockets is annoying. It doesn’t stop me from wearing it constantly so it must not be too much of an issue. I usually also have a large rhinestone skull brooch on this jacket, but I have moved it to a summer vest for a bit. I will post a picture of me in the jacket with the brooch, just to give that visual.
Lot’s of Nina West, Wild Cat Party and Gifts, Cindlou’s
This past weekend we went to stay in a cabin in Hocking Hills to celebrate my brother-in-law’s fortieth birthday. From the outside it looked just like a normal two-story house, but inside it had an amazing spiral staircase leading to the upper floor and beautiful wood beams over the kitchen. Outside on the property there was a frog pond, an old smoke house that was blocked off and an old well up close to the road. There was also a family cemetery further back on the property, which we would explore later in the day.
My nieces, nephew and mother and father-in-law arrived a couple hours after Seth and I. I had already explored a bit and found a cicada shell and a pretty yellow maple leaf, so when the kids arrived I showed them the spots we had explored so far. Spotting the well the girls wanted to investigate so we wandered over and looked in. I jokingly shouted hello into the shaft and a head appeared in the space below as if peaking out to say hello.
I jumped back so fast. And the girls looked at me with wide eyes. I asked if it looked like someone was in there to them too and they nodded. We sped walked back into the cabin and told everyone that we had absolutely been freaked out by what appeared to be a face in the well.
My sister-in-law said that we could all go out in a bit and investigate since it had obviously freaked me out. And I was freaked out. Perhaps I have watched too many horror movies and read too many scary stories, but I was legitimately scared of that well.
Later, Seth, my sister-in-law, nieces, and my father-in-law set out to hike up to the cemetery and before we left they investigated the well. My lovely scientific husband worked out that the well had water so still that the reflections went weird. It was our own faces we had seen in the well. I was the well witch. I am the well witch. 👻
The rest of the weekend was relaxing, other than the fact that I have been suffering from poison sumac for over a week and it somehow just keeps getting worse. It started as a tiny patch on my right arm, and now it is all over my arm, on my stomach, a little on my left arm and a little on my knee. It is driving me insane and just keeps spreading. I am going to call my doctor tomorrow to see if I should go in to get it checked out. It itches, but it also hurts! The well witch is displeased.
How did this happen? How is the year halfway over? I have no idea but it is.
I am that much closer to Forty, OMG! I am not overly worried about turning forty, but there are certain things I would like to do before that birthday hits. I would like to get closer to my weight loss goal, if not hit it. I would like to find a new job that allows me to use my degree any at all. I would like to get more regular with my writing schedule. So many things.
I am a woman who likes to set goals, and gets a thrill when I reach them. I am also a woman who is prone to procrastination. Take procrastination and add on the pandemic and suddenly I am barely a functioning person.
Anxiety and depression are rearing their heads for me in a big way and I am having trouble convincing myself that I should reach out to my PCP for help. Sometimes at times like this calling to make an appointment feels like an impossible task. I will get there and make the call, just not quite yet.
On a plus my little sister surprised me with a little planter the other day that is Albert Einstein, so I bought a tiny succulent for it. It looks amazing and kinda like Albert is wearing a black sweatband.
.A couple of weeks ago, Seth and I set off to explore Green Lawn Cemetery. Green Lawn is a large historical cemetery in Columbus.There are a number of “famous” Columbus figures buried within the cemetery and the abbey. I am a huge fan of walking in cemeteries, and this one was beautiful to visit. The grounds are full of beautiful trees of all kinds: oak, maidenhair ginkgo, various evergreens, and Ohio buckeye.
I brought a plastic bag so I could pick up litter as we walked about, and Seth was happy removing branches that were laying atop grave sites and making piles under the trees. We cleaned grass off of markers that had been covered when the mowers moved through. We are talking about making a kit to take with us to make our cleanup easier next time with a small broom.
We found a headstone of a type which I have never seen before. Where a headstone may say mother, father, sister, brother, etc. this one said Aunt. I loved it so much, and even more interesting was the fact that the Aunt in question had the fist name Salome. I believe that Aunt Salome is my spirit sister. I am absolutely in love with anyone who dies and is best known for being an aunt.
The abbey at Green Lawn shows films outdoors to raise funds for upkeep during the summer. We went last Friday to see Notorious directed by Alfred Hitchcock. We got to visit the actual abbey, which is gorgeous with white marble and wrought iron. The film was entertaining. It was a Hitchcock I had never seen before, but it was very entertaining. There was an absolutely insane drunk driving scene that made me very tense, but Cary Grant who was actually in the car with the drunk driver Ingrid Bergman seemed generally unfazed. I love a good spy thriller though, so generally it was a good time. Next month they are showing Laura and in August The House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price. We intend to see those as well. There is something so lovely about watching a thriller with the abbey looming above us.
When I decided to begin college in 2009-10 I did so because I decided I needed a change in my life, so I was going to go to school to become a paralegal. I applied and was accepted to the paralegal program at a local community college, and began taking a mixture of classes in my field and prerequisites. My first term was intro to paralegal studies and English 1 since it had been a year or two (or ten) since I graduated.
Intro to paralegal was interesting, but I absolutely thrived in the English class. I got a 95 on my first paper which absolutely ruined the curve for the rest of the class. I had forgotten how much I loved to write. I thrived when given a topic to research and write a paper on. It all came back to me, how much I love to read and write. I hadn’t forgotten exactly, but I had pushed it aside to concentrate on other things. I left the class with an inkling but still determined to become a paralegal.
Then I began my second required English class with Professor Abrams. Within the first couple of classes he looked me right in the eye and asked what my major was I answered and he said, “No, you are an English Major.” I laughed and shook my head. The whole rest of this class he would occasionally say something to me about being in the wrong major, and that I should be an English major. I just kept laughing, shaking my head and telling him he was wrong, but in the back of my head I kept repeating his words over and over again to myself.
My final paper for the class was on the Edgar Allen Poe story “The Fall of The House of Usher.” I researched thoroughly and presented a paper I was incredibly proud of. I got full marks, and under the grad he had written “Betsy, Stop pretending. You are an English Major! Brilliant work.” It felt like a punch in the stomach. I know looking back that it was that moment that I decided I would be changing my major from paralegal to English.
I did not change right away, though, first I slogged through two or three more paralegal studies classes, and several more prerequisites. Then I looked at my husband and asked if he would object to me changing my major to English. He reasonably asked me what I would do with my degree, to which I said “Teach I guess.” And in spite of my lack of plan and job prospect my husband could tell it meant the world to me, so he said of course if it will make you happy. So, I went to the school and asked to change to English.
I graduated with my associate’s degree, and decided that I should go ahead and finish my bachelor’s. I enrolled in an online program that would work with my full time work schedule. I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in early 2019 approximately 10 years after I decided to change my career trajectory by going back to school. Then I decided to enroll in Grad school and pursue my Master’s degree.
I am absolutely not sad that I made the decision to change my major, and my life. I found my love of writing again, and my love of reading. I found a passion I had forgotten. And when working on my degree I was forced to confront the fact that I had never considered being a writer/author as being a viable outcome. I had told myself that was an improbable and impossible dream that I could never possibly fulfill, but suddenly I was being told it is an absolutely viable career choice. So the question became, is that what I want? Do I want to be an author?
I am still not sure I know the answer to that. I know I want to write, but I am still not sure exactly what form that is going to take. I guess I just keep writing and learning, and eventually something will strike a chord. In so many ways getting my degree actually didn’t change my career at all. I am still working for the bank I was working for when I began. My job does not use my degree in the slightest currently. Right now I am focused on finding a job that utilizes my ability as a writer, editor and creative.
Thank you Professor Abrams for telling me again and again that I was an English Major until it sunk in. Would I have gotten there on my own eventually, probably, but who knows. Sometimes, when you are me, you just need it spelled out for you, in blue pen, on the bottom of a paper.
I have been thinking in my down time about names. The names we are given, the names we choose and the names that are thrust upon us.
According to my mom she chose my name because it was the name of the character Meg Ryan played on As The World Turns and she liked it. And I am a Betsy, not an Elizabeth, my name is not short for anything. My middle name, Jo, is also my mother’s middle name and was the middle name of my grandmother’s best friend and sister in law Rebecca. My last name until I got married was Bailey which was actually my mother’s maiden name.
Meg Ryan as Betsy Stewart
I used to get comments all the time over how happy my name sounded. I had teachers that always referred to my by first and last name “BetsyBailey”. A non comprehensive list of what I was told my name sounded like: A USO singer from the 40’s, a comic book alter ego, a porn star, a cheer leader, etc. I was also often asked if that was my real name, or if I made it up.
The strange “problem” with having an incredibly happy name is that I have never really had a nickname. My name already sounds like one. Some people will call me “Bets” but I don’t really think of that as a nickname as much a verbal laziness. My older sister, Krystie, for a while called me Wetzel, a derivation on the name of the haunted doll Betsy Wetsy (It goes without saying that I absolutely hate that doll, and also that I had one as a child. People are mean.). That never really stuck either though, thankfully.
Unlike me my little sister, Traci, collects nicknames. I gave her one of them, Shmoo. It came out of my absolute inability to call a pet by their name, and then applying the name to her. She has also been called: Pepper, TJ, Teej, etc. She has more nicknames than is applicable for one person.
Where never having a nickname got strange for me was when the internet became a thing and people used their nicknames as their email and screen names. I didn’t have a nickname, so I used the most obvious moniker, spazgirl1981. Makes sense, right? On renaissance fair based forums I would change it up a bit and use renspazgirl1981. I had a brand, I guess. And no one could say they didn’t know what they were getting into.
My Renaissance Faire character/ wench name is Emma Cricket. Emma was a common name of the Renaissance era and Cricket was my grandmother’s nickname. Recently when my mother joined the wenches she chose to also be of clan cricket, and so the name expands.
When I began to get interested in Roller Derby I decided to use my first name as a starting point and build around it. What I came up with was AlphaBetsy Bomber, which is a reference to the movie Cry-Baby by John Waters. My second runner up was Betsy McBrawl which was a reference to a character created for young girls by McCalls magazine. I was afraid that one was too obscure, but man do I love it. I never got to actually play, but I was training and I have used my derby name as a screen name at least once before.
When Seth and I got married, I made the decision to take his last name. Which gave me almost the name of everyone’s favorite Golden Girl. I have considered having my middle name legally changed from Jo to Snow, so my name would be Betsy Snow White. I thought if I ever publish a book I would publish under the name B. Snow White. I mean, it appeals on so many levels. I have never taken the plunge, but the thought remains.
I will someday explain how I decided that I should write my blog as the Weird Girl, but that is a story all unto itself. I could also talk about how I eventually made the decision not to use a magical name. For now, though, what are the origins of your name? Do you have a nickname? Do you have a pseudonym? How many names can you claim?
Betsy Snow White Bibliophile 